One Cook County correctional officer killed, another charged with DUI in 3-vehicle crash in Woodridge

Cook County sheriff's office

Zachary Perry, 27, of Addison, was killed in the crash.

Zachary Perry, 27, of Addison, was killed in the crash. (Cook County sheriff's office)

Clifford WardChicago Tribune

Authorities Wednesday were continuing to investigate a three-vehicle crash in Woodridge in which one Cook County sheriff’s correctional officer was killed and another correctional officer was charged with drunken driving, police said.

Zachary Perry, 27, of Addison, died in the crash, which involved two passenger vehicles and a truck and happened about 4 p.m. Monday at Davey and Joliet roads in Woodridge, according to police.

Perry was the driver of one of the passenger vehicles. The driver of the other passenger vehicle, Pablo E. Perez, 30, of Berwyn, has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Woodridge police said excessive speed, in addition to alcohol, is suspected of playing a role in the crash.

The driver of the a light-duty box truck was not cited, Woodridge police spokesman Jim Hoff said Wednesday.

Hoff said he could not provide additional details of the accident. Police were still working on a reconstruction, he said.

Perry and Perez worked as correctional officers at the Cook County Jail, according to the sheriff’s press office. Perez had been employed there a little more than four years, and Perry started in April 2016.

“Yesterday was a devastating day,” the department said in a Tuesday Facebook post announcing Perry’s death. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and our staff today and in the difficult days, weeks and years to come.”

Perry worked in Division IX, the jail unit that houses maximum security inmates along with those who have committed disciplinary infractions while incarcerated.

Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Cara Smith said Wednesday that she was not able to comment on the circumstances that led to the fatal accident. But Smith did say the sheriff’s Office of Professional Review was involved in the investigation.

Perez was dedeputized Monday night, Smith said.

He appeared in Will County court Tuesday and was released from the jail after posting bail, according to the county circuit clerk’s website. He is scheduled to be back in court Jan. 9, the website said.